No mention of the horses being stampeded onto private ranches, then on to the private facility, also surrounded by a private ranchy where the press and public are NOT welcome.

And it's almost unbelievable that BLM Director Bob Abbey, a Nevada guy, would say the snow those horses are running on is soft! I rode that land on a cattle drive and those hillsides are really, truly, covered with shale the size of dinner plates. I can't imagine going down it at a gallop (with something chasing you!) over snow and ice.

Dear Readers,The meeting with Senator Feinstein's office was great. The rally was busy and featured a formerly wild burro, a miniature horse named Fergie and a huge Mastiff dog as big as either of them!Keep your eyes open for press reports ; I talked with lots of reporters.Photos as I get them!Here's what else happened...

San Francisco, CA (December 30, 2009)—In a special press conference Michael Blake, Academy Award-winning author of Dances with Wolvesand Terri Farley, author of the popular Phantom Stallion book series join together at 5 P.M. in the Rex Roth Room at Hotel Rex, 562 Sutter Street in San Francisco to protest the dead-of-winter roundups of wild horses on Nevada's Calico Range. The two authors want the American public to hear their stories and stand up for the wild horses and burros before they exist only in books. They ask the public to write President Obama requesting a moratorium on wild horse and burro roundups until the American public can work with Congress to create a sustainable plan to protect our legends of the West.

Less than one percent of humans who live in America have ever seen wild horses running free according to Blake, "I have spoken with many of the few who have and each has said the view they made will never be forgotten."

The Nevada roundups have special meaning to Blake, whose new book, Twelve, the King, is a tribute to the wild stallion he adopted. Blake explains, "After surviving a brutal capture in Nevada, he never had anything put on his back and was given all-access to the ranch."

Farley will speak on the importance of wild horses to modern children, of the Bureau of Land Management's lopsided science, and share eye-witness accounts of riding the Calico range. A land of sagebrush, pinion pines and snow-capped peaks, the range is not only the setting for her popular Phantom Stallion series, but the site of multi-million dollar roundup in progress because the BLM insists the horses have damaged the range.

"BLM must cowboy up and make the corporate ranchers pay for the damage their livestock has done to the range," Farley said. "Nevada is wild horse country, and you only have to look at the galloping mustangs Nevadans voted onto their state quarter and mustang license plates to see that most of us want it to stay that way."

Farley and her fans fear that if BLM continues roundups like Calico, where they are removing 80-90% of the mustangs to add to the thousands already in captivity, that the days of free-roaming horses will end.

"The last truly wild horse may already have been born," Farley says. "Though Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar claims moving wild horses to Eastern and Midwestern pastures will preserve them forever, these sterilized and shelved horses are treated more like strawberry preserves than a living legacy of the West."

Blake's Dances with Wolves praises the gritty beauty of the real old West just as his upcoming On the Road with Michael Blake takes an honest and admiring look at today's West, and he agrees that the West's wild horses must be left to run free.

"As remarkable as a distant sight of wild horses can be it remains the tip of a glorious iceberg. The actual lives of wild horses reveal to humanity the privilege having a life on the planet earth and how vital it is to respect the privilege."

—Michael Blake

"Since humans first huddled around campfires, stories have been told of wild horses with wind in their manes, fire in their eyes and freedom in their hearts. Those horses eluded capture, and scorned the comforts of civilization. Americans have insisted they want their wild horses to live that way, forever."

TOMMOROW in San Francisco, Chicago, London, Los Angeles and Idaho, peaceful demonstrations against the round ups of wild horses are planned.If you can come to one of these peaceful demonstrations, please do!And yes, I'll be in San Francisco. As a fourth-generation Californian who had her first real job in San Francisco, I've always admired the open-hearted and open-minded city and it is, after all, named after Saint Francis, patron saint of animals and the environment.If you come to the rally in San Francisco, please come up and talk with me! Our password will be the Phantom's secret name. That will tell me you're one of my readers! For more information on the wild horse rallies, check outThe Cloud Foundation

Dear Readers,I wish I had better news.Why is BLM being secretive ?It appears that they're herding wild horses onto private lands, but won't say where. If the horses are on tribal lands, they are in another nation, which would mean anything could legally happen to the horses.BLM says the private landowners are barring trespassers -- the press and public.Some reporters have been told the captive horses be held at Palomino Valley. Others have been told the horses are going to Fallon, Nevada.I have a bad bad feeling about this, and I'm not alone. There will be rallies to protest these round ups all over the world -- Chicago, Boulder, Colorado, San Francisco, London and more. If you want to go and need more info, please let me know.Still, I want to see those horses for myself.Stampeding those in-foal mares down shale hillsides in the snow...I'm having nightmares and I'm still awake.Terri

I'm proud to have been interviewed as a voice for our horses.You can read this most recent article at the link below my quotes and I hope you will

"There are millions of cows and thousands of horses," said Terri Farley, a Reno author who joined the lawsuit against the BLM roundup. "So tell me, who is eating the grass?"

Farley, who said she has observed range studies and researched the issue for years, said the BLM "needs to look at its science on this." She said the gathers, coupled with birth-control methods used on horses that remain on the range, will eventually "zero out" the ranges, leaving no wild horses at all.

"(The BLM) says they are doing it for the good of the horses," she said. "I lean towards the conclusion they are doing it for the good of the cattlemen.

"People may remember when they saw their first wild horse, but will they know when they've seen their last? I think the last wild horse may already have been born."

She said the argument that activists are fighting the government gathers on the basis of romance alone -- the iconic image of herds running free -- is easy to make, but not accurate.

"It can be a persuasive argument because it fits in with the idea of crazy cat ladies and things like that, but that's why I've made it a point to educate myself," Farley said. "... I'm not buying the BLM's numbers. It's as though they are being eliminated on a whim. If it's about range damage, then look at that. If it's about a different political issue, then we need to look at that."

Merry Christmas!By now you've probably given and received, but if you'd like to give the horses the gift of freedom, please try emailing the president and asking him to halt the 12 days of round ups which could start Monday.I'm especially worried that BLM appears to be setting aside its usual standards. They are even separating foals from their mothers, and several have died.Here's where to email President Obama:in Washington, D.C.

Thanks for your help and please ask others to do it, too!Hugs to you,Terri

Dear Readers,Sadly, the judge did NOT grant the injunction to stop Monday's round up, but we have half a victory.He DID say that BLM has no legal right to stockpile horses in long terming holding pens, so they might want to hold off on the Calico round up until they know what they can legally do with those horses.In Defense of Animals has already set Plan B into motion. Among the things we're doing is asking President Obama to give the horses a Christmas reprieve.He did it for a Thanksgiving turkey, didn't he?Hugs to all,Terri

Reno, NV (December 22, 2009)—The Cloud Foundation along with authors Deanne Stillman and Terri Farley release statements to the press about the killing of six American wild horses in Washoe County, NV discovered during the recent unannounced Buckhorn roundup during the first week in December. These concerned citizens comment on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) responsibilities to protect American wild horses as well as their recent $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killers.

"I am heartened that Director Abbey is offering this large reward. Wild horses and burros are valuable members of our western ecosystems and whoever committed these crimes should be brought to justice." —Ginger Kathrens, Naturalist and Emmy-award winning filmmaker- creator of the popular PBS Cloud Wild Horse Documentaries

"I'm saddened by the mustangs' deaths and hope BLM stands up for our remaining mustangs in the wild" —Terri Farley, author of the "Phantom Stallion" wild horse series

"These killings have been going on for decades and are all about our ongoing war against the mustang. The question we must ask ourselves as Americans is this: why are we, a cowboy nation, destroying the horse we rode in on? Now, in this holiday season, the question is more urgent than ever, as we recall the 34 wild horses that were gunned down outside Reno at Christmas of 1998 and once again, mourn the martyrdom of yet more mustangs in their homeland—the West." —Deanne Stillman, author of "Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West"

And while you're there, answer the opinion poll. It's on the left side of the story, about halfway down (not that easy to see at first glance). Anyone lucky enough to live in wild horse country should know Nevada is "fence out" country when it comes to wild life, so that's what I picked. Best, Terri

Dear Readers, I'm amazed that the Phantom's story has led lots of you to be interested in what happens to live wild horses. The power & magic of words, has never been clearer to me.

Using notes from In Defense of Animals, here's a bit of what happened while I was in Washington, D.C.

>Lead attorney William J. Spriggs tells the judge a dozen (or so) BLM wild horse mistakes he's NOT there to discuss, saying those issues were for another day.

>Mr. Spriggs summarizes our case: the indiscriminate roundup of thousands of horses from the Calico range is illegal; so is holding 30,000 + wild horses in captivity, since that action was never authorized by Congress.

>The Justice Department attorney defends BLM's decision by attacking the plaintiffs (I'm one) by claiming no one would not be harmed by the removal of 80-90% of the horses on the Calico range,

>He likens helicopters to sheep-herding dogs, and says on-the-range determinations of the horses’ health is impossible because BLM can't get within a mile of them.

> Mr. Spriggs remarks that he wasn’t sure what law the DOJ attorney had read, since we were talking about the WILD FREE-ROAMING HORSE and BURRO Act!

>Honorable Judge Paul Friedman asks great questions & observes that this is an interesting case, but asks for some additional information on case law because he wants to give a decision on the round-up before Christmas

>The legal team at Buchanan, Ingersoll and Rooney is fired up and working hard for the horses.

> I was thinking of you and wishing you could be there!

>Please keep your fingers crossed and pray for a good ruling for the wild horses!

Dear Readers, I'm going to be out of the reach of Internet and cell, where the wild things are, for twenty-four hours. Before I go, though, I wanted you to see how the Calico horses really look. Check this out on YouTube: Starving and Inbred Horses? The judge in this case plans to have a ruling before Christmas. More info for you soon.Hugs,Terri

Dear Readers,Thanks for you support. I know tons of your wrote horse / cowgirl gear today and it made me feel so great. As for the lawsuit to stop the Calico Roundup, I'd give today a good solid C+.We went to court -- a Federal court is pretty impressive and I felt a strong sense of seriousness about what's at stake -- and the judge listened to statements from both attornies and asked several question. He wants to rule on the case by next week, before Christmas. The wild horses have lots of friends here and they are all so intelligent. I'm learning a lot! Terri

Dear Readers, It's after midnight in Washington, D.C. Flying in at night, seeing the bright capitol dome and the city sparkling for the holidays, it's hard to believe everything won't be perfect tomorrow, but we can use all your prayers, good wishes, and how about wearing a horse for us? Wishing you a wonderful day, Terri

Huddled horses in BLM corrals were rounded-up while I was in the Monday meeting; now they have no shelter, no windbreaks

Dear Readers,On Monday,>BLM said the ratio of livestock to horses is: 8,000,000,000 / 30 000 but still blamed wild horses for range damage>BLM brushed aside communications from Americans who want mustangs to run free. Saying people are ill-informed, BLM insists entrapment,capture and confinement best serve the wild horses>BLM wild horse advisory board would not agree to read even a few of your letters >While a snowstorm raged outside, during the hours BLM insisted the public and humane observers were always welcome to watch gathers, BLM had helicopters in the air, making a stealth round up of horses slated for capture in August 2010. At least one mare was killed and other horses, including a number of foals, were injured.Right this minute, those horses stand in corrals -- as shown above -- without shelter or even windbreaks.

Brynna, one of my favorite PHANTOM STALLION characters, was a BLM staffer, and I've dedicated books to real BLM staffers, but the Bureau is running amok and using my money to do it. Even if their actions are technically legal, they are sneaky and shady. So, I'm now a plaintiff in a lawsuit to stop the BLM's roundup of the Calico horses. On Wednesday, I'll be sitting in a Washington, D.C. court room listening as BLM and Safari Club International fight for the capture and transport of wild horses to "preserves" where they]ll live in "non-reproducing herds." That means there will be no foals.Soon enough, they'll be "preserving" nothing; they will be empty.Yes, life is tough for America's wild horses, but you're standing up for them and I'm standing up for them and you.More later,Terri

BLM Investigating Possible Shooting Deaths of Wild Horses in Northern Washoe County, NevadaInvestigators from the U. S. Bureau of Land Management are looking into the suspected shooting deaths of up to six wild horses on public land along the Nevada-California border about 45 miles northeast of Susanville, Calif.

The bodies of six mustangs were discovered Saturday, December 5, by a helicopter pilot working on a wild horse round-up in the BLM’s Buckhorn Herd Management Area in Washoe County, Nev. BLM staff members who went to the scene said five carcasses were found in one area, and another was found about a half-mile away.

Officials said several of the animals had evidence of gunshot wounds. They estimated the animals had been dead for about two weeks.

This is Matt, Terri's son. My mom's busy battling the BLM right now, but I wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to read the article The Associated Press did about the government's plan to round up 25,000 wild horses and ship them off to uncertain fates in the East and Midwest.

I'm not nearly as much of a horse person as my mom is, but earlier this year, she and I took a bunch of writers and publishing people to check out a herd of wild horses in the desert near Dayton, Nevada. I was a lot more excited about going off-roading and hanging out with some of the young female writers than I was about actually seeing the animals (because, let's be honest, when Terri Farley's your mom, you see a lot of horses (-: ), but either way, it seemed like a good way to spend a Sunday morning.

If you haven't seen wild horses before, it's tough to explain why it was so cool to walk among them. As I mentioned, I've been around plenty of livestock and am not much impressed by most of it, but wild horses are about as close to the ponies at the fair as a red fox is to your wiener dog. Up close, they seem to be about 80 percent horse and 20 percent woolly mammoth. Their caveman dreadlocks alone are worth the trip.

We all walked right up near them (they'll let you know if you get too close, believe me) and just watched for a while. The New York publishing folks' minds were blown, and I wasn't far from joining them. You think of creatures like as being pretend, or so foreign that they might as well be, like Bengal tigers or monitor lizards. But no, they just hang out in the West's deserts, and unlike tigers, they don't bother anybody. At worst, they run away if you're bugging them. You can (and should) go see them sometime, assuming they're still around.

That sounds overly dramatic, but it isn't, really. If the BLM's plan goes through as written, the wild horses will be precious few and far between. I can't get into the facts and figures the way my mom does, but I was a reporter for five years, and I can share a couple of things that might help you make your mind up about the BLM's plan:

1. It will be a difficult and expensive project that will result in the deaths of at least some of the horses. That's all par for the course when forcing wild animals to do things.

2. It is not clear how the horses will adapt to their new homes, nor that they won't have to be moved again at some point.

3. There is little if any actual, independent evidence that the wild horses need to be relocated at all, at least for the reasons the BLM has put forth (overpopulation and starvation). The BLM hasn't kept proper track of the horses for years due to budget concerns, and yet they claim to know exactly how much the horses are eating and how fast they're breeding? As a reporter, I'm going to have to say: Citation needed. A full study would, one assumes, cost a lot less than hunting and trapping 25,000 animals and shipping them across the country. Maybe we ought to give that a try first.

Anyway, here's the link if you missed it the first time: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/08/us/AP-US-Wild-Horses.html?pagewanted=all . Please link to this page and encourage your local reporter or blogger to investigate this story and how it applies to you. And most of all, if you oppose the BLM's plan, act NOW in real life. Don't know how? Just ask Terri.

Dear Readers, If only I had better news about the meeting. The advisory board did not recommend against the Calico round-up. When I presented your letters to the advisory board and asked if they'd nod if they'd read at least a few of them...Only two out of seven did. A third did, belatedly, grudgingly. Did any of you see my reaction, streaming? The good thing is, many people in the audience were just as shocked as I. YOU did your part. I just need to find a better way to help you mae an impact. I'll share some highlights from my notes, later. Now it's time for a cookie. Best,Terri

Dear Readers, Roads closed. Schools closed. Lots of snow. Hoping lots of people spent the night at the hotel where the meeting will be held, though, including Madeleine Pickens ! Yay. It's hours til three o'clock and public testimony. I plan to leave as soon as it's light. I have some of your wonderful art and loads of letters. With luck, all of the testimony will be streaming live on the Internet from NV HorsePower.org

It will be more important than ever that you watch and listen, because others will be unable to be there in person, or may be fighting snowy traffic while BLM testifies...and the written testimony won't be out until two months from now. By then...well, you know. Terri

Pick whichever one matches your words (some were created by PHANTOM readers!) Click on it, fill in your message to BLM and send it to Wildhorsepower@aol.com Make sure to include your name, age, city and state, country When I receive your epostcard, I will print it out, fold it into an envelope and deliver it to the BLM on Monday.

Dear Readers, I've had an avalanche of requests for this oldie-but-goodie photo of me as my high school MUSTANG mascot and I'm guessing it's because Madeleine Pickens (please visit her website if you haven't, lately) is working with sports teams to find yet MORE supporters for our wild horses. So, here it is! Still kickin' up my heels for the horses,Terri

If you haven't already sent your feelings about wild horses to me via snail mail, feel free to email them to farleyterri@aol.com. Be SURE to tell me your name, city and state and country, and age. It could be something as simple as this:

Dear BLM: This isn't the first time I've written to tell you my feelings about the wild horses, but this is my simplest note: NO MEANS NO. No helicopter round-ups, no warehousing wild horses in corrals, no selling mustangs for slaughter, no throwing away money and lives in my name. Let our wild horses run free. Please listen, __________________________, age, city, state, country

Dear Readers, Alan Shepard, lead BLM officer for the state of Nevada, says that a single round-up of the Calico Mountain mustangs will cost $900,000. 2,700 mustangs will be trapped, trucked and confined. Most of the mares will be in foal, many near birthing. And yet BLM District Manager, Gene Seidlitz signed the final determination document because this round up will have no significant impact. Unless the public prevails, the roundup will begin on December 28th. Try Googling "no significant impact" + "wild horses". Not pretty. Best,Terri